A hot topic lately in middle and high schools in the U.S. has been the dress code. Students whose schools follow strict dress codes are exasperated by the lack of creativity they are allowed in dressing themselves during the school week. Aside from that, many students across the country are subject to dress codes that have been deemed sexist due to the fact that such rules apply very specifically to only female students.

However, the students at the NYC iSchool are lucky. The school follows a very simple and straight-forward dress code that allows students to wear some things that may not be allowed in other schools, where skirt lengths and strap widths are a few of the things being, literally, measured.

The school’s code outlines simply that all students must be covered from the armpit to the top of the legs as well as the obvious ‘no offensive words or logos’ and no hats or headgear except for religious purposes. The code suggests no quantitative limit to lengths of skirts and shorts, though if teachers or administrators think something is inappropriate, they will comment on it.  The dress code also seems to have pretty much no implications relating to gender.

Many students at the school have very distinct and interesting senses of style, and the dress code seems to allow them to express that more.

The vice principal of the iSchool, Ms. Leimsider, says that “one of the founding principles of the iSchool is individualization.” She says that she thinks students being able to express their own styles is very important.

However, she doesn’t think the school should have no dress code, because she thinks there are two extremes. One being school uniforms, the other being no dress code at all. “We thought about where the line is for us,” said Ms. Leimsider.

Ruby Swords, a Freshman at the iSchool, is very passionate about the subject of school dress codes and has a slightly different point of view on the iSchool code.

“It’s a little harsh for a school that’s very progressive in other ways,” she said. She thinks that a dress code is unnecessary because high school students know what’s acceptable to wear, and they probably don’t need a code to tell them. However, she said that she understands “the idea that you need to draw a line somewhere.”

Esme Friedman is also a freshman at the iSchool. She says that she thinks the dress code allows students to express themselves, and that it seems to apply to everyone, not just female students. “I think it’s fair,” she simply stated.

The administrators at the school always have their students’ best interests at heart, and despite what some students might think, the dress code was created with the intention of allowing students to be themselves.